ADD & ADHD

For some reason, ADHD seems to afflict boys more often than girls.

We do not “treat” Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

However, since ADHD appears as a neurological disorder and chiropractic care helps reduce nervous system disturbances, many parents who want a natural, non-drug solution for their child have found chiropractic care helpful, even miraculous.

Common Symptoms

The classic signs that parents and teachers notice:

Inattention, hyperactivity and being easily distracted

Difficulty concentrating and sitting still

Inability to control impulsive thoughts and behaviors

Easily distracted by noises and activities

Always moving—fingers, hands, arms, feet or legs

First Things First

Begin by making nutritional and lifestyle changes. Rule out environmental factors by reducing your childs exposure to substances that are increasingly common these days:

Remove food dyes, preservatives and additives from the diet.

Focus on natural, organic foods grown without pesticides or herbicides.

Determine if an allergy involved such as dairy or gluten and eliminate.

Eliminate all sugars and artificial sweeteners.

Reduce the use of cleaning agents, detergents, fabric softeners and other chemicals.

These are wise choices whether your child has the symptoms associated with ADHD or not!

Traditional Treatment

The most common treatment is drugging the child with a Class 2 psychotropic drug.

The artificial approach to controlling symptoms of ADHD is to administer regular doses of methylphenidate. More commonly known as Ritalin®.

Ritalin® is a schedule II controlled substance related to, and producing similar effects as, amphetamines and cocaine. The side effects, including personality changes and permanent changes to the brain, cause many parents to look for alternatives. More and more are wisely turning to chiropractic.

Chiropractic: Pure and Natural

Hyperactivity is not the result of a Ritalin® shortage! Instead, we look for disturbances to the child’s nervous system. We almost always see problems caused by the spinal distortions in the upper neck.

In fact, this link between the spine, brain stem dysfunction and ADHD is common. A thorough chiropractic examination can reveal noticeable spinal distortion, even a reversal of the normal neck curve. With a schedule of safe and natural chiropractic adjustments, these often resolve, reducing and nervous system tension.

Find Out More

As parents, we want the best for our children. If your child exhibits the symptoms of ADHD, you know it affects virtually everyone your child is in contact with. Before you submit to drug therapy, make an appointment for a chiropractic evaluation. Call our office today!

Allergies

Chiropractic care doesn’t treat allergies. So, why do so many people with allergies mention that they see improvement by receiving care in our practice?

It’s Not the Pollen

There are many signs of an allergic reaction. Itchy eyes. Runny nose. Sneezing. Skin rash. More serious reactions can include constricted air passageways, vomiting and even death. All this from a handful of peanuts, an encounter with a cat or microscopic grains of pollen in the air!

Your body inappropriately perceives the allergen as a threat.

If everyone reacted to these common substances, we could fix the blame squarely on the nut, dander, shellfish or pollen. But not everyone reacts.

What is it?

Inappropriate Threat

Your nervous system is the master system that orchestrates your immune system, glandular system, respiratory system and every other system that reacts inappropriately to an allergen. Normally, these systems help you respond and adapt to the world around you. But suffering from uncontrollable sneezing around a house cat is probably an inappropriate reaction.

If your nervous system isn’t working right, you don’t work right. So, rather than direct our attention to the countless potential allergens, we locate and reduce the disturbances we find to your nervous system.

How full is your adaptation bucket?

A Full Bucket

Each of us was born with the capacity to withstand or adapt to stress. If we’re unable to deal with things we eat, breathe or come into contact with it may be because our margin to adapt is used up.

Pretend that this bucket represents your capacity to adapt to the physical, emotional and chemical stresses of life. Every stressful encounter your body faces, fills up your bucket.

If your bucket is already full and you encounter pollen, foods or other chemicals, your bucket overflows. When that happens, people say they’re having an allergic reaction. But what they’re really saying is, “I’ve lost my ability to adapt. My margin is used up.”

Chiropractic: Nervous System

So, we don’t treat allergies. We look for ways to restore your ability to adapt to allergens by locating and reducing disturbances to your nervous system. Simple, really.

We’d love to discuss your specific allergy issue and how chiropractic may help.

Asthma

Chiropractic is not a treatment for asthma. However, many who suffer from asthma report improvement by receiving chiropractic care.

Drugs may temporarily reduce symptoms but ignore any underlying nerve disturbance.

There is research that suggests a link between the spinal column, the nervous system and the respiratory system. This may be why many have mentioned improved breathing by consulting our practice.

Countless Causes

Asthma cases seem to be rising at an alarming rate. Some think it’s due to a combination of factors, especially the increase of chemicals in our environment.

These days, airtight, super-insulated homes can trap chemicals, molds, formaldehyde and other irritants. Even the increasing use of cesarean births, antibiotics and our fascination with germ killing have been cited.

If these factors were the only issue, why wouldn’t all children living in the same house and breathing the same air, suffer equally?

Chiropractic Connection

Your diaphragm is the primary muscle used for breathing. Nerves that control each breath leave your brain and exit the spinal cord in the mid-neck (C3, C4 and C5) area. Spinal problems in this area can have a profound affect on the nerve supply to the diaphragm.

Reducing vertebral subluxations in the spine may help restore proper nervous system control of the lungs and improved function can begin.

More Research is Needed

In fact, research published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research documented the results experienced by 81 children with asthma who received chiropractic care. The two-month study revealed that those under care saw a 45% decrease in the number of “attacks” and that 31% of the subjects voluntarily chose to decrease their medication.

All this from improved nervous system control of the lungs!

Find Out More…

Chiropractic care may help reduce the frequency and severity of asthma attacks. Naturally, we can’t make any promises, however, if your son or daughter has subluxations, and they are the cause of their symptoms, many have found relief with conservative chiropractic care. Call our practice and let’s discuss the possibilities and get your questions answered.

Autism and Chiropractic Care

Often times when I am in the community and introduce myself as a Pediatric Chiropractor, I get quite a few puzzled looks as if I’d just made up a new profession.

The truth is, pediatric chiropractic is growing by leaps and bounds and the results we are getting are astounding.

One of the areas our practice focuses on is helping children with autism and other spectrum-related disorders. So, in order to better help explain my answer to the question “Well, how can chiropractic help with autism?” I thought I would write out a general summary and make it available on the website! So here goes…

Warning – this is a very lengthy explanation, but if there is one thing I have learned in my years of helping parents whose children suffer with autism, it is that “no amount of information or help is too much” for their children. So hopefully, this helps…

How can Pediatric Chiropractic Care Help with Autism?

Well, as is the case with so many questions, the response to this one is going to be multi-faceted. However, it will also have one recurring theme… and that recurring theme will be our focus on the Central Nervous System.

Anyone who knows anything about autism knows that the nervous system is greatly affected in this disorder and the challenges this brings about are responsible for many of the issues seen in children with autism, such as hyperactivity, attention issues, sleep challenges, behavior problems, social issues, sensory processing issues, and more. In addition, the nervous system is so intimately linked with the digestive and immune systems (the other two systems most commonly affected in autism) that it can also contribute to things such as bowel and bladder problems, autoimmune challenges, and more. From here on out we will look at these systems in a “triangular” sort of approach with the nervous system being the link between them.

Possible ways the Nervous System can be Damaged or Injured

There are numerous ways to discuss, so we will focus on the major one for purpose of this article. The primary mode of injury we see in our office is what we would term Traumatic Birth Injury. For many of these children their nervous systems have been damaged right from the outset due to this birth injury, or even prior to that due to in-utero constraint issues (i.e. breech positioning).

Unfortunately, in the United States we have levels of birth intervention that even the WHO has termed to be at “epidemic” levels, especially the use of Cesarean delivery. The WHO states that C-section rates around 10% are normal and necessary, while anything above 15-20% “likely does more harm than good” – in the US 33-50% C-section rates are the norm for most hospitals.

It must also be realized, that even most vaginal deliveries are now induced or “augmented” as well. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed an increase in autism later on in life for induced births, confirming what we’ve been talking about in pediatric chiropractic for a long, long time.

The area that is most commonly injured during the birth process is the upper neck and skull. The risk of injury to these areas, and the resultant issues from it, go up exponentially as intervention levels go up. C-sections, forceps, vacuum extraction, and prolonged pushing all lead to greater risk of traumatic birth injury to the infants head and neck.

Unfortunately, no one in the medical system is really trained to check (or address) these sorts of injuries, so most of the time they go completely unmentioned to the parents… If the injury were addressed by a pediatric chiropractor shortly after it occurred, most of the neurological injuries associated with it could be prevented. If we are truly going to win the battle for autism in this country, we must learn how to prevent it, not cure it. This area would be a vital first step.

Effects of these Injuries

Once that injury occurs, it can put pressure on the brain stem and spinal cord, as well as the spinal nerves in the vicinity. What is more, by creating a misalignment and joint fixation complex (subluxation) in the area, it leads to improper neurological “signaling” or “communication” into and out of the central nervous system. This challenge to the communication system of the body is one of the primary reasons so many children with autism have challenges with sensory processing, social interaction and behavior, and learning.

All of this eventually puts the nervous system into a chronic or permanent state of stress. This is often referred to as the stress response, or fight/flight response. It is a response that is vital for short term reactions, but detrimental when “stuck on” for extended periods of time. Most children with autism have been in fight/flight from their first moments. This is why we see such a high correlation with infantile colic, ear infections, digestive disorders, and autism.

Again, if our health care system were designed to address these challenges immediately, rather than waiting for the symptoms to appear, far fewer children would be suffering with autism and related disorders. One can simply observe a child with autism and see the “stress and fear” in their eyes. It is such a joy to see this look change in their eyes as they progress through care in our office.

Getting back to our triangle example, this chronic state of stress wreaks havoc on the immune and digestive systems as both of them are “down-regulated” during chronic states of stress. Speaking specifically about the digestive system, sustained neurological stress responses can lead to an increase in decreased motility, constriction, cramping, and inflammation. When the digestive system is in this state it does a very poor job of breaking down foods and other substances, leading to even further inflammation and irritation that can spill over into the bloodstream and cause an immune response.

The immune system faces the same challenges… when we are in a constant state of neurological stress the immune system dysfunctions and leaves a child susceptible to allergies, asthma, eczema, and other inflammatory type reactions. All of this leads to more and more inflammation and irritation, and the cycle continues. This is why so many of these reactions and challenges are what we refer to as “viscous cycles” that essentially continue to feed each other and lead to greater and greater challenges. Somewhere, this cycle must be broken, and that is where chiropractic adjustments come into play.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

By addressing the injury and resultant subluxation, a specific chiropractic adjustment restores proper balance and alignment to the neuro-spinal system, and thus can help restore balance and function to the central nervous system. Depending on the severity and duration these injuries have been present, sometimes repeated adjustments can create positive change in a step-by-step process that leads to an improvement in behavior, digestion, immunity, learning, sleep, and more. As I have stated many times before, the sooner we start, the better our chances of having success with such care.

In summary, most every child we see with spectrum disorders has two major challenges at the root of their issues: An overstressed nervous system that is stuck on the “gas pedal” and thus in protection mode right from the beginning of life, or even before. Therefore an amazing quote by Dr. Bruce Lipton summarizes both the cause behind the issue, and if we really understand it, the solution as well. His quote states, “You can’t be in growth and protection at the same time.”

Translated to our analogy here, a child’s nervous system cannot be on the “gas pedal” (stress/protection) at the same time as it’s on the “brake pedal” (growth/development/organization/healing). A subluxation, specifically to the upper neck and brainstem area “locks in” the nervous system to that stress mode. A specifically trained pediatric chiropractor is the only provider on the planet trained to find and locate that subluxation, and if found, correct and resolve it. Doing so is analogous to “pumping the brakes” and getting the growth, relaxation, and healing system working again!

We believe that when a family has a child who is challenged by something like spectrum disorders, the number one thing they need is someone who can support them and help them make the proper decisions. Unfortunately, despite the enormous growth in this disorder, most pediatricians are quite lacking in their understanding of spectrum disorders and how neurology, nutrition, and toxicity play a role in it. Thankfully, Pediatric Chiropractors are experts in this area, and you can be rest assured that you will get the support and care your child needs to overcome these challenges and lead a bright and promising life!

Bedwetting

Lack of bladder control can cause shame, guilt and impaired social skills.

Bedwetting takes a tremendous toll on children. Embarrassment. Alarms. No sleepovers. Plastic mattress covers. Frustration. Unable to fit in. Even diapers.

Up to the age of four or five, most children have poor bladder control at night. But after that, the inability to stay dry at night may be a sign of an underlying problem. While chiropractic is not a treatment for bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis), countless children have been helped with safe and natural chiropractic care.

Bladder Physiology

Two key muscles control the emptying of the bladder. Their technical names are the detrusor and trigone muscles. Nerves that exit the spinal column in the lower back and sacrum control these muscles.

During the early years of life, the sacrum has five separate segments. Later, they fuse together to form the triangular-shaped bone that adults have at the base of the spine. If these segments misalign (falling, learning to walk, ride a bike, etc.) they may compromise nerves that are responsible for bladder function.

We look for these sometimes subtle misalignments during our examination. When these misalignments are reduced with safe and natural chiropractic adjustments, nervous system control and regulation of the bladder may often be restored.

Published Reports

The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics document many studies showing the positive benefits of chiropractic care.

A study of 46 children received chiropractic care for a 10-week period. A quarter of those receiving chiropractic care had 50% or more reduction in the wet night frequency, while none among the control group saw a reduction. (JMPT 1994 (Nov-Dec);17 (9): 596-600)

Children with a history of persistent bed-wetting received eight chiropractic adjustments. Number of wet nights fell from seven per week to four. (JMPT 1991 (Feb);14 (2): 110-115)

The lumbar spine of an eight-year-old male bed wetter was adjusted once and at a one-month follow-up. There was a complete resolution of enuresis. “This happened in a manner that could not be attributed to time or placebo effect.” (JMPT 1994 (Jun);17 (5): 335-338)

Chiropractic has shown some promise among bedwetters with neurological compromise caused by the spine.

Will Chiropractic Care Help?

Since chiropractic care isn’t a treatment for bedwetting, a thorough examination is necessary. If the bedwetting is caused by nerve interference from the spine, many children see great results with chiropractic care. Find out!

We approach these cases with sensitivity and compassion. Your son or daughter will appreciate and understand our explanations.

Please call or email us if your specific concern hasn’t been addressed here.

Children’s Health

Children often respond quickly to chiropractic care and seem to prefer our natural approach.

Children are some of the biggest beneficiaries of chiropractic care. Surprised? Those who think of chiropractic as primarily a solution for neck and back problems are surprised to learn that chiropractic can be helpful for many types of childhood health problems.

Nervous System Disturbances

The nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves of the body, controls and regulates the entire body. Many childhood health problems are merely the result of nervous system interference, usually along the spine.

Our gentle adjusting techniques help reduce these disturbances so your child’s body can resume working as it was designed. Better health is the natural result when the brain and body have clear communication pathways.

Chiropractic care has been shown to improve fertility.

Chiropractic and Children

Upon examination, we often find nerve disturbances associated with many types of common childhood health complaints.

While the effects of these nervous system compromises go by a variety of names, chiropractic is not a treatment for them! Our primary aim is to locate and reduce the underlying nervous system dysfunction.

Infertility. Even before birth, restoring nervous system control of reproductive organs has blessed many chiropractic patients with the child they thought was impossible.

Traumatic Birth. Have your newborn checked shortly after birth to detect the effects of in-utero constraint, C-section, vacuum extraction or other aspects of a stressful birth.

Colic. Birth trauma, even from so-called “natural” birthing experiences can often produce a child’s first nerve compromise. Lacking the ability to communicate, your baby cries. And cries.

Ear infections. Biomechanical restrictions in the upper spine can compromise the nervous system and immune system, making your child’s ears a breeding ground for viral infection.

Bedwetting. Nervous system compromise in the lower back can block nerve messages responsible for bladder control. Many children regain their confidence and self-esteem with chiropractic care.

Reducing nervous system tension can improve virtually every aspect of your child’s performance.

ADHD. Many parents investigate conservative chiropractic care before exposing their children to psychotropic drugs. Reducing tension to the nervous system has produced excellent results for many.

Asthma. By reducing neurological compromise to the bronchial tubes, lungs and diaphragm with chiropractic care, attacks can often be reduced or eliminated with chiropractic care.

Growing Pains. Pain of any type is a warning that something isn’t right. While considered a “phase they’re going through,” it’s usually a sign that biomechanical stress to the nervous system is present.

Scoliosis. Instead of crude bracing or the all too common “wait and watch” approach, chiropractic care has helped countless children with this common disfigurement.

Wellness. An obvious symptom isn’t required! Enjoy the peace of mind of having your infant or child checked to uncover structural or neurological problems before they become serious.

Many of the hard-to-correct problems we see in adults are long-standing problems that began, and remained undetected in childhood. If you have questions, use the email link below. Or give us a call and arrange a telephone consultation. We’re happy to discuss any concern without cost or obligation.

Colic

Your tummy hurts. You have a terrible headache. You can’t sleep and you’re cranky. One more thing: you can’t ask for help because you’re only two weeks old! So you cry. And cry. And cry.

Lacking the ability to speak, newborns cry, indicating that something isn’t right.

And your parents feel helpless.

Indigestion?

Infantile colic was first thought to be merely indigestion. The most widely accepted definition of colic today is “unexplainable and uncontrollable crying in babies from 0 to 3 months old, more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for 3 weeks or more, usually in the afternoon and evening hours.”

Birth Trauma?

If a baby is inconsolable, it’s hard to know if it’s a digestive disturbance. Consider another explanation. Upon examination, we often find spinal distortions in the baby’s upper cervical spine. These babies are probably suffering from head and neck pain. This is especially common if there was a difficult birth.

A 67% Reduction in Crying

The results of a randomized controlled trial published in the October 1999 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics tracked a small group of 50 infants. Half received the drug dimethicone and the other spinal manipulation. At the conclusion of the two-week study, the babies being adjusted saw a 67% reduction in crying and the drug therapy group saw a 38% reduction.

Take the first step toward colic relief. Call today!

Little Research

While large scale research results are lacking, and colic is considered a condition that resolves on its own with the passage of enough time, there are many case studies showing improvement, sometimes dramatic, among colicky babies with vertebral subluxations.

Not a Cure

Chiropractic isn’t a treatment for colic! If vertebral subluxation is present, interfering with the proper function of any part of the body, restoring proper nervous system control often allows the body to heal. This may happen regardless of age and regardless of what the particular symptoms are called.

Find Out More

Consult our practice for a no-obligation consultation. Take action now and set up an appointment. Call or email us and put an end to the frustration and helplessness so many new mothers feel.

Ear Infections

Ear infections may be common, but they’re not normal.

As parents, it makes us feel so helpless. Our child is suffering but there seems little that we can do. No wonder reoccurring ear infections (otitis media) account for a huge number of pediatrician visits.

The traditional approaches include:

Antibiotic therapy. This may be effective for acute bacterial infections, but many cases are viral, for which antibiotics are useless.

Tubes in the ears. Surgical implantation of artificial drainage tubes require the administration of a risky anesthesia and then, they often come out!¹

However, many parents are choosing a more conservative approach:

Chiropractic care. A thorough examination to locate, and adjustments to reduce, nerve disturbances that may make the ears prone to infection.

Our bodies have an incredible capacity to fight infection. When that ability is impaired, it means something else is going on. With our focus on the integrity of the nervous system, we start there.

Nerve Compromise

It surprises many to learn that some of the nerves that control, regulate and monitor the ear begin in the brain stem, continue down the spinal cord and exit out from between the bones of the spinal column.

Changes to the function of the bones in the upper neck may compromise the quality of the nerve signals to and from the brain. Obviously, this can affect the ability of any organ or tissue, in this case your child’s ear, to “defend itself” from infection.

Impaired Drainage

Nerve compromise is often accompanied by abnormal tension to the muscles that support the spine. Besides “protecting” the spine from further compromise, these muscle spasms can exert pressure on nearby lymphatic drainage ducts. This prevents natural drainage, further compounding the problem.

What We Do

Our approach is simple. Since chiropractic care isn’t a treatment for infections of any type, when parents bring their child for us to check, we look specifically for distortions in the upper spine. If nerve tension is detected, we gently reduce it with safe and natural chiropractic adjustments. This helps restore nervous system integrity. For a child or infant, this usually requires little more than a light touch with our fingertip at just the right place and direction.

Parents love our approach. We explain everything in advance. Our adjusting approach is safe and results are achieved naturally. Give us a call. We’d like to help.

Headaches

The primary objective of chiropractic care is find and reduce the underlying cause of your headache.

Headaches are common, but they’re not normal.

Drug Culture

Pain relievers of various types are the most common approach to headaches. In our practice we take a more natural approach. Our objective is to find and reduce the underlying cause of a headache.

Hidden Cause

A common cause of headaches is from spinal bones in the neck that aren’t supporting the head properly. You might not notice your reduced ability to turn your head. But these vertebral subluxations affect nerves, muscles and even the blood supply to your head.

Our thorough examination detects vertebral subluxation patterns that could be causing your headaches. If vertebral subluxations are present, you’re likely to benefit from chiropractic care.

Compensation Reaction

Click here to try our at-home range of motion test.

Some are surprised to learn that their headaches are being caused by problems in their lower back! The upper spine compensates, shifting the head off center, causing headaches.

While we can’t guarantee results, we have a high success rate with practice members who get headaches. Give us a call. Let’s sit down and discuss your unique situation.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is the spine the source of all headaches?

What causes subluxations?

I was told it was “all in my head.” Now what?

How many visits will it take?

What if chiropractic care doesn’t help?

How come my medical doctor didn’t suggest chiropractic?

Pregnancy and Pediatric Care

At Life Chiropractic, we are a family-focused wellness practice. We feel that there is nothing more important than caring for our next generation

We understand that the health of a pregnant woman is vitally important because the care we offer affects both mom and child. Proper nervous system and spinal function is crucial to the development of your baby and essential to the well-being and comfort of mom. The effects of chiropractic care during pregnancy are far-reaching and extend way beyond treating pain.

By ensuring that the pelvis and spine are in proper alignment and motion, chiropractic care helps to ensure that the developing baby has plenty of room to grow within the womb. By maintaining this proper alignment and motion throughout pregnancy, chiropractic care can also improve the ability of the expecting mother to have a safe and natural birth process – which is something that is extremely vital to the health of both mom and baby.

The modern birth process is often one of the most traumatic events that a person will endure in their life. Unfortunately today, many health care providers choose to look at pregnancy as a “medical condition” rather than the incredibly safe and natural process that it is. A woman’s body is designed perfectly for the birth process, and difficulties typically only arise if mom is functioning at less than 100%.

Due to the unfortunate problems caused by increased C-section rates, poor infant health and higher mortality rates, Dr. Tony feels that it is extremely important to have your child checked for subluxation as soon as possible after birth. Subluxation is a misalignment or lack of motion within the spine that results in stress and ill health in the body. The birth process is a very common cause of subluxation, especially a birth process that resulted in many interventions. Chiropractors are the only ones trained to detect and remove these subluxations, and doing so will help to ensure that ill health does not follow for your newborn.

Our chiropractic kids love their chiropractors as much as we love them!

As children continue to grow their spines undergo many forms of trauma as they learn to walk and crawl, play, and become involved in sports. It has been said that a child undergoes enough falls in one day to put an adult in the hospital. Many of these things may again result in subluxations which can be easily detected and removed by a doctor of chiropractic.

Another essential part of our pregnancy/pediatric care is providing parents with all the information they need concerning health and wellness. From child nutrition, exercise, ADHD, diabetes prevention, stress reduction or anything else, Dr. Tony and the staff at PWC are committed to providing you with complete wellness education that gives you the answers you need!

If you feel your child may have any signs of subluxation, please contact us to find out what you can do about it. Posture is a very telling sign of the health of a child’s spine, if your child has poor posture please do not hesitate to call us. Remember, prevention is the best medicine and its better to start young so your child can grow and function at 100% and truly be well.

PMS Premenstrual Syndrome

It’s not all in your head! If there’s evidence of nerve compromise to your reproductive organs, chiropractic care may help.

Estimates suggest that up to 90% of women suffer from some form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) with 10 -20% experiencing severe or disabling symptoms.

If you’re resolved not to give in to menstrual or premenstrual discomfort, and you want a natural solution that avoids drugs, many women turn to chiropractic.

The Lumbar Spine

Your nervous system controls and regulates every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body. The spine, especially in the lower back, can impair nerves that direct and monitor the reproductive and hormonal systems.

Could undetected vertebral subluxations be involved in other female health issues? More research is needed. However, our experience suggests that this would be fertile ground for more investigation.

The Effects

We typically see three types of effects which may be symptoms of nervous system disregulation.

Over activity – such as heavy bleeding or severe cramping.

Under activity – including missed periods or infertility.

Distorted activity – cells that normally line the uterus, implant elsewhere causing bleeding, pain and reduced fertility.

The Promise of Chiropractic

Encourage someone you know suffering with PMS to give chiropractic a try. An undetected vertebral subluxation may be the culprit.

While chiropractic care isn’t a treatment for PMS (or any other condition), many women with spinal distortions have seen an improvement in their reproductive health while under chiropractic care. Restoring a more normally functioning nervous system helps the entire body work the way it’s supposed to.

If you, or someone you love, is put out of commission every month, encourage her to come in for a thorough chiropractic examination. If there’s nerve interference, there’s a good chance we can help.

Sciatica

Pills or muscle relaxers can’t correct the nerve compression caused by a bulging disc.

Sciatica is a distracting pain that begins in the lower back and extends down one or both legs. It typically worsens with periods of sitting or standing.

The discs between the spinal bones of the lower back are often involved.

Trauma can cause one or more discs to bulge. This crowds nearby nerves, causing irritation and inflammation. Coughing, sneezing or other kinds of movement can be painful. If neglected, the nerve irritation extends down one or both legs along the sciatic nerves. The pain appears in the leg, but the culprit is often the lower back!

Click here to take this simple contracted leg test.

There’s Hope

Fortunately, improving joint motion in the lower back with a program of chiropractic adjustments has produced results for many people.

It all starts with a consultation and thorough examination. If we think we can help, we’ll tell you. And if we don’t think we can help, we’ll tell you that too and refer you to someone we think can. Get started today.

Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder goes by many names (Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Neurosensory Dysfunction, etc.) but no matter what you call it, the underlying causes of it don’t change. What is more, we strongly feel that sensory issues are one of the most commonly missed diagnoses out there. A properly trained health care provider understands that many common conditions such as ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and many learning and behavioral issues have many sensory-based challenges, and therefore proper treatment must address these.

Unfortunately, most of our current health care providers have little to no clue how to recognize and treat sensory challenges, especially in young children. There are many warning signs that sensory challenges are developing, but too often are missed at a young age and dismissed by the child’s doctor with “he’ll grow out of it” or “let’s wait and see what happens.” Well, waiting and seeing is the same as doing nothing, and too often these children have a difficult time later in life overcoming these challenges. It is our mission to educate the community, and especially parents, how to recognize these challenges and also how to treat them as soon as possible.

In most cases when these sensory challenges are finally realized, therapy is the first option. If done properly this care is usually done by specifically trained occupational and/or physical therapists in a “sensory gym” or setting. While we support this form of therapy whole-heartedly, at Premier Wellness Chiropractic we offer even more. The sensory-based care provided by our office is one of the only places in the country where neurosensory rehab and therapy is combined with neurologically-based chiropractic adjustments. This combination of care can provide more effective and longer-lasting results than either alone.

Our sensory system is a “read and react” system. What this means is that our body is “preprogrammed” to respond appropriately to environmental stimuli. This programming occurs throughout life and can be thought of as ‘sensory learning’ or processing. The clearest example of this is a child placing their hand upon a hot stove… once it is done, it is rarely done again. This is because the burning and painful ‘sensation’ of the hot stove becomes ingrained in our sensory memory, and helps prevent us from making this mistake again. All sensory patterns in the body work in this way.

For children with SPD, this system is essentially not “programmed” correctly. For various reasons, it becomes “chaotic” and “disorganized” as the child develops improperly. This can be caused by a variety of different things. In our office the most common causes we encounter are traumatic birth (ie. forceps, vacuum extraction, C-section), childhood falls, and improper development through excessive use of infant car carriers, walkers, and jumpers.

The first few months and years of life are more important to our sensory programming and development than any other. When children are put through events like the ones mentioned above, their neurosensory system develops improperly, leaving them either hyper (too much) or hypo (not enough) sensitive to their environment. These imbalances can lead to major challenges and difficulties in social and academic settings, and contribute to other issues such as ADHD, anxiety, OCD, social withdrawal, and learning disabilities.

Our doctors are absolute experts in this area, and can help determine if your child is developing properly or not. Our examination includes computerized testing of the neurosensory system that gives us a great look at how well that nervous system is functioning and how well it is organized and integrated. If imbalances are found, they can be addressed through our specific adjustments, neurosensory therapy, and holistic approach to treating the whole child. Nowhere else is a combination of care like this available. Give us a call today and let us help, you won’t be disappointed!

Stress

Not all stress is bad. A 20-minute workout at the gym for a fit 25-year old is good stress. The same workout for your 75-year old grandmother would likely be bad stress!

Instead of fainting or going unconscious, think of a vertebral subluxation as your body’s attempt at managing stress.

Physical Stress

Repetitive motions (painting the ceiling), postural distortions (falling asleep with your neck twisted) and whiplash injuries from a car accident are physical stresses. So are slips and falls. Even being born!

Mental Stress

Ever faced an impossible deadline at work? Or grieved the loss of a loved one? Notice the posture of someone who is depressed. Frustration, or a sense of powerlessness at work are common forms of emotional stress.

Chemical Stress

Today’s environment constantly assaults us with chemicals. Drugs, preservatives, tobacco, alcohol, pollen and a host of other substances can affect our nervous system and muscle tone.

When your body reacts by “tripping a circuit breaker” and causing vertebral subluxation, chiropractic care may help.

Stress can’t be eliminated, but regular chiropractic care may help you better accommodate and adapt to it.